Will GOP Rep. Justin Amash win reelection?

Will Joe Biden be the 2020 Democratic nominee?

Story TOpics

In this Dec. 6, 2018, file photo, Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who won her bid for a seat in the House of Representatives in New York’s 14th Congressional District, asks 2014 Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai a question at the Kennedy School’s ... more >

Four House freshmen are urging congressional negotiators to not increase spending for Immigration and Customs Enforcement as part of any congressional deal to bolster border security and keep the government open.

The progressives say the Homeland Security Department’s budget should be cut, not enlarged, because it has an “inhumane” agenda toward immigrants and children. In a letter circulated Thursday, they say next year’s budget offers a chance to “reform” the agency.

They add, “In the meantime, not another dollar.”

The letter is signed by freshman Democrats Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan. All four have in the past advocated abolishing ICE, which is part of Homeland Security.